Various authors have proposed a series of factors by which group therapy is therapeutic or curative. Irvin Yalom, emeritus professor of psychiatry at Stanford University and an international reference in group psychotherapy, developed an inventory made up of eleven factors that determine the main therapeutic mechanisms of group therapy.

Instill hope

Receiving a treatment with the hope that it will be effective increases the chances that it will be effective in what you want to treat, as is the case with the placebo effect. In group therapy, as in any treatment, some patients improve, and others do not. In this case, the advantage of group therapy is that patients who do not improve do see other patients improve. Witnessing his improvement favours the patient who has not improved to continue harbouring or hoping to recover as his partner. This effect is achieved in group therapies run by professionals and in support groups offered by associations.

Universality

By universality, we refer to the “universality of experience”; that is, in the group, patients can find other people who have had the same experiences. Commonly, the behaviours associated with the consumption of alcohol and other addictive substances can be shameful and marginal, favouring social isolation and an overwhelming feeling of loneliness. The group offers these people an opportunity for frank and candid social exchange. In addition, they can feel a significant relief when realizing that other people are in the same situation and are not the only ones suffering from the disease and its consequences.

Convey information

Therapeutic groups also allow didactic interventions by the therapist. For example, in relapse prevention groups, the therapist can give general guidelines on what a patient can do in a risky situation where the desire to use again arises. Therefore, therapists teach group members coping mechanisms and relaxation or stress reduction techniques. On the other hand, in the support groups of associations, such as Alcoholics Anonymous, the didactic part is established by reading the experiences of other alcoholics or addicts.

If the didactic interventions come from the therapist, the advice comes from the other group members. It is common that, during group sessions, group members give their opinion and share their experiences with other members who are raising a problem or a specific situation.

Altruism

The help that patients give to each other in group therapy is not possible in individual therapy. This altruistic help to others who need help allows the patient to feel she can give something to others. Moreover, it makes you realize that you have much to offer other people, unlike how you probably thought before joining the group. This altruistic help experience is gratifying for people and increases the self-esteem of those who help. In addition, it helps patients see that they are not alone in the world, that other people also have needs, and that they can help them meet them. This therapeutic factor of altruism is unique to group therapy since patients in individual therapy rarely feel useful to the therapist.

Development of socialization techniques

In all treatment groups, there is, to a greater or lesser extent, social learning in the form of acquiring basic social skills. Depending on the type of group and the group’s objectives, these social skills will be acquired by mere social interaction under the supervision of the therapist, or they will be objectives in themselves and worked on through didactic interventions. The group look can transmit sincere feedback that offers each patient information, allowing them to deepen their maladaptive behaviours and responses.

Imitative behaviour

Patients who attend group therapy can incorporate those behaviours, reasoning, or emotional responses that they see in the therapist or other patients. This is what is known in psychology as vicarious learning.

Catharsis

Catharsis, which expresses intense repressed emotion, is not therapeutic, although the classical Greek translation is purification. What can be therapeutic is sharing feelings, thoughts or opinions in a group where the subject feels accepted, not judged or questioned. Therefore, the mere act of expressing a strong negative emotion is not, in itself, therapeutic, but feeling accepted by others when expressing them is very useful to people.